Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Yomonica.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium, commercially known as a garden-type Chrysanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Yomonicaxe2x80x99.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Salinas, Calif. and Alva, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms, attractive floret colors and good garden performance.
The new Chrysanthemum originated from a cross made in October, 1999, in Salinas, Calif., of a proprietary Chrysanthemum selection identified as code number 97-L124, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Chrysanthemum selection identified as code number 96-L169, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. in October, 2000. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form, attractive ray floret color and good garden performance.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. since January, 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Yomonica has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Yomonicaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Yomonicaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright, mounded and rounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plants.
3. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
4. Anemone-type inflorescences.
5. Pale yellow-colored ray florets and bright to golden yellow-colored disc florets.
6. Natural season flowering in late September in the Northern Hemisphere.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the female parent, the selection 97-L124, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were slightly smaller than plants of the selection 97-L124.
2. Plant habit of plants of the new Chrysanthemum was more uniform than plant habit of plants of the selection 97-L124.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered more uniformly than plants of the selection 97-L124.
4. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about two weeks earlier than plants of the selection 97-L124 when grown under natural season conditions.
5. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the selection 97-L124 differed in ray floret color as plants of the selection 97-L124 had white-colored ray florets.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the male parent, the selection 96-L169, in the following characteristics:
1. Plant habit of plants of the new Chrysanthemum was more uniform than plant habit of plants of the selection 96-L169.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had smaller inflorescences than plants of the selection 96-L169.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about one week earlier than plants of the selection 96-L169 when grown under natural season conditions.
4. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the selection 96-L169 differed in ray floret color as plants of the selection 96-L169 had golden yellow-colored ray florets.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can be compared to plants of the cultivar Verona, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Verona in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were larger and more rounded than plants of the cultivar Verona.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Verona.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about one week earlier than plants of the cultivar Verona when grown under natural season conditions.
4. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the cultivar Verona differed in ray floret color as plants of the cultivar Verona had darker yellow-colored ray florets.